Method of making footwear of the mocasin type having moulded counters



Dec. 30, 1958 w. F. HERLIHY 2,866,211 METHOD OF MAKING FOOTWEAR OF THE MOCCASIN TYPE HAVING MGULDED COUNTERS Filed July 26, 1955 Unite 2,866,211 Patented Dec. 30, 1958 Fice METHOD OF MAKING FOOTWEAR OF THE MOC- CASIN TYPE HAVING MOULDED COUNTERS William F. Herlihy,'Haverhiil, Mass., assignor to Lowell Counter Company, Lowell, Mass, a copartnership consisting of William F. Herlihy and John J. Herlihy Application July 26, 1955, Serial No. 524,336

1 Claim. (Cl. 12142) This invention pertains to the manufacture of footwear, more especially to the making of shoes or slippers of the moccasin type, and is particularly directed to a novel method of making moccasin shoes having stiff counter portions.

While moccasin shoes have many advantages, in particular those of comfort and flexibility, as compared with conventional shoes, they lack the shape-retaining characteristics of other types of shoe because it has not heretofore been practical, in following the customary practice employed in the manufacture of moccasins, to provide the moccasins with an internal shape-retaining counter stiifener of adequate dimensions. For this reason, after a relatively short period of use the counter portion of a moccasin shoe breaks down, not only spoilusually connected by a longitudinally extending seam which is stitched before the upper is placed on the last. Usually this scam terminates forwardly of the heel so as to leave a small opening directly beneath the heel of the wearer. Assuming that the upper has been closed at its heel end and that the aforesaid seam along the shank portion has been formed, and assuming that the counter portion of the upper has been provided with a counter liner to provide a pocket to receive a stiffener such as is customarily used in conventional shoes, it is impossible as a practical step in the manufacture of a moccasin shoe to introduce a counter stiffener of adequate dimensions into this pocket because the opening in the insole portion of the upper (if there be any opening at all) is too small to admit of the introduction of the counter upwardly into the pocket. While it has sometimes been attempted to introduce a stiffener into an interior pocket of a moccasin type shoe by entering it through the top opening of the upper, this at best is a Very awkward procedure and precludes the employment of a counter stiffener of sufficient lateral dimensions to stiffen anything more than the extreme rear part of the upper, leaving the sides of the counter portion unstiffened. Because of these dif- -ficulties it has been proposed to provide a counter pocket at the outside of the upper and to place a counter stiffener in this outside pocket, but this arrangement imparts an appearance to the exterior of the moccasin which is quite different from that of the customary shoe and in fact in most instances makes the shoe appear heavy and lacking in the very characteristics which make popular.

The present invention has for its principal object the provision of a moccasin type shoe having its counter portion adequately stiffened not only at the extreme rear but also along the sides, that is to say, throughout an area comparable to the stiffened area of a conventional shoe, and wherein this stiffener is located within an inside pocket so that the exterior of the moccasin shoe may have the trim and finished appearance of the heel portion of a conventional type of shoe. To this end, in accordance with the present invention, the customary seam which extends longitudinally through the shank portion of the shoe, is not formed at the usual time in the shoe making procedure, but the lower edges of the upper are left unconnected at the shank portion of the shoe until a counter stiffener has been entered upwardly between these edges into the counter pocket. Having entered the stiffener into the counter pocket, which may be done in this instance with substantially the same facility as in a conventional type of shoe, the entire quarter of the upper, including the counter stiffener within the pocket, is subjected to a moulding operation where-by the stiffener and the upper itself is given a permanent shape so as to conform substantially to the exact curved countour which the counter portion of the shoe should have when the shoe is completed. After this moulding operation has been finished, the shank seam is formed and the upper is drawn over a last and the shoe is completed in accordance with customary practice.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in the following more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a moccasintype shoe embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the piece of upper material which constitutes the vamp and quarter portions as well as the insole of the shoe;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a piece of upper material designed to form the plug portion of the moccasin;

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the upper after it has been closed at the rear and with a counter liner in place, showing the parts expanded and separated to facilitate the introduction of the counter stiffener;

Pig. 5 is a vertical section, in the plane of the seam which unites the rear edges of the quarter, but omitting the stitches which form said seam and also the stitches which unite the opposite edges of the longitudinal slot in the insole-forming portion of the material;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a counter stiffener blank;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevation illustrating the step of moulding the quarter portion of the shoe; and

Fig. 8 is a bottom view of the shoe as it appears when ready for lasting.

Referring to Fig. l, the moccasin shoe of the present invention is shown as comprising the vamp portion 10, the plug 11, the outer sole 12, the heel stay strip 13, the counter liner 14, and an edge binding 15. Referring to Fig. 2, the blank B represents a unit ry piece of upper stock, for example, leather, cut according to customary practice, to provide an area which forms the vamp portion 10 of the upper, an area which forms the insole, and areas which constitute the quarter portions 16 and 17, the latter being separated by the elongate recess 20 (Fig. 2) which merges, at about the heel breast location,

the moccasin with a longitudinal slot 21, which extends forwardly along that part of blank B which will form the sole portion of the completed shoe, and whose edges 22 and 23 are slightly concave toward each other. The quarter portions 16 and 17 terminate in the rear edges 18 and 19 which are preferably outwardly convex. The blank B (Fig. 3) is also of upper material, for instance, leather, and is designed to form the plug portion 11 of the upper.

The assembly and union of the several elements of the shoe upper is, in general, according to customary practice except as hereinafter specifically described. Thus the rear edges 18 and 19 of the quarter are butted together and united by a sewed seam 24 (Fig. 4); the stay 13, if the latter be employed, is united to the closed quarter by substantially vertical sewed seams 13x and 13y (Figs. 4 and 8); the upper edge of the counter liner 14, which may be of any usual material, for example sheepskin or textile fabric, is sewed to the interior of the closed upper by a marginal seam 26, the lower margin of the counter liner being left free from the quarter; and an edge binding 15 or other form of trim (Figs. 1 and 5 but not shown in Fig. 4) is applied to the top of the closed upper and united to the upper for example, by seams 30 and 31 (Fig. 5), in accordance with customary practice, at any appropriate stage in the assembly operation and according to the type of trim employed.

There is now provided a stiffener blank or counter 27 (Fig. 6) which may be of any desired contour and of almost any of the usual materials employed for stiffening the end portion of the upper. However, in accordance with the present invention it must be of a type which is inherently capable of becoming plastic or moulda-ble when subjected to proper treatment. Thus it may be a thermoplastic material or a material which becomes soft and mouldable when treated with a solvent, such materials being commonly employed in making shoe counters or stiifeners. Such a thermoplastic material commonly employed in shoe part stiifeners is a compound of montan wax and hard asphalt, as disclosed for instance in the patent to Beckwith 1,124,835. A solvent softened material commonly employed as a shoe stiffener is celluloid, which may be softened by dipping in acetone.

Having provided this counter stiffener, the closed upper is now expanded, as shown in Fig. 4, at its rear portion, the edges 22 and 23 still being free from each other, and the lower edge of the counter liner 14 is pulled away from the upper proper, so that the counter stiffener may readily be inserted within the pocket provided between the upper and the counter liner. Since it is possible to expand the upper very widely at this time, it is possible if desired to use a counter liner and counter stiffener of such dimensions as to extend forwardly substantially to the rear part of the shank portion of the shoe, as is custmary in footwear of more conventional type.

Having inserted the counter stiffener between the upper and the counter liner, and if desired, having previously coated the opposed surfaces of these elements with adhesive A, and after having pressed the counter liner 14 back into contact with the stiffener, the quarter portion of the shoe, comprising the upper, proper, the counter liner and counter stiffener, is now introduced between moulding dies D and D such as are customarily employed in moulding shoe counters. Prior to introducing the quarter between these dies it may be desirable to subject the assembled parts to a mulling operation so as to insure that they will be amenable to the moulding pressure, and, after the moulding operation is complete, will retain the moulded shape. After the quarter has been moulded, thus imparting to the materials forming the quarter a shape substantially like that desired in the completed shoe, the edges 22 and 23 are drawn together and united by a sewed seam S (Fig. 8) and then the upper may be pulled over a last. Then in accordance with a customary practice, the plug 11 may be secured in place and other finishing operations, including that of applying the outer sole, performed. It is to be understood, however, that if in accordance with the particular practice followed in any given factory, it is more usual to attach the plug to the vamp portion before lasting, it is obvious that this step may thus be carried out prior to lasting without departing from the present invention, but in any event in accordance with the present invention, the edges 22 and 23 bordering the slot 21 must be left unconnected until after the counter stiffener has been inserted.

By thus leaving the edges 22 and 23 disconnected up to this point in the operation, it is possible to spread or expand the rear part of the upper, as shown in Fig. 4, so that the counter stiffener, even though of substantial lateral dimensions, may be introduced by pushing it between the liner 14 and the upper proper, the large opening which it is possible to obtain by reason of the fact that the edges 22 and 23 are not connected making it possible to install the counter stifiener in the moccasin shoe with substantially the same ease as in a conventional shoe.

While one particular form of moccasin has herein been illustrated by way of example, it is to be understood that the invention is broadly applicable to the manufacture of moccasins of other types, and that any modifications falling within the scope of the appended claim are to be regarded as within the purview of the invention.

I claim:

That method of making a moccasin type shoe of the kind in which a unitary piece of upper stock extends uninterruptedly and without seam across and beneath the foo-t at the forepart portion of the shoe to form the forward portion of the insole and merges integrally with the vamp and with quarter portions of the shoe and wherein the rear ends of the quarter portions are united, without overlapping, along a substantially straight seam at the extreme rear end of the shoe, said method comprising as steps providing a unitary blank of upper material having a smoothly rounded forward edge merging with longitudinally extending outer edges, and having an elongate recess extending forwardly from its rear end and merging with a forwardly tapering slot extending substantially to the forward end of the shank in the completed shoe, the forward portion of the blank being dimensioned to constitute the vamp and, as an uninterrupted continuation thereof, the forward portion, at least, of the insole, and the rear portion of the blank being shaped to form the right and left quarter portions of the shoe, the inner edges of the said elongate recess defining the lower edges of the respective quarters, butting the rear ends of the quarter portions and uniting them by a seam thereby to close the upper at its rear end, providing a counter-liner, sewing the counter-hner along its upper edge to the upper edge of the closed rear end of the shoe upper but leaving the lower edge of the counter-liner free from the material of the upper to provide a counter-pocket open at its lower end, said pocket being characterized in that while the lower edges of the quarter portions, at the opposite sides of said recess and slot, are still free from each other, the rear part of the upper may be expanded transversely by separating the lower edges of the quarter portions and the opposite edges of the slot, pulling the lower margin of the counter-liner away from the material of the upper, introducing a moldable stiffener into the counter-pocket through the opening provided by transversely separating the lower edges of the quarter portions and the edges of the slot, pressing the counter-liner rearwardly into contact with the moldable stiffener, subjecting the quarter portion of the upper, together with the stiffener and counter-liner, to a molding operation such as to impart to the quarter portion, stiffener and counter-lining substantially the exact curved contour which the quarter of the upper is to have in the completed shoe, and thereafter uniting the material of the quarter at the opposite edges of said slot by a sewed seam to close the shank portion of the insole, placing the upperupon a last, and completing the shoe according to conventional practice, the counter-liner being of such dimensions as to extend from approximately the shank portion, at one side, rearwardly and about the heel end of the upper and approximately to the shank portion at the opposite side, and the moldable stiffener being of such lateral dimension that when it is inserted in the counter-pocket 391,232 Dudley Oct. 16, 1888 1,475,646 Meyer Nov. 27, 1923 1,521,338 Swanson Dec. 30, 1924 2,212,514 Engel Aug. 27, 1940 2,333,708 Cushman et a1 Nov. 9, 1943 2,420,466 Cordeau May 13, 1947 

